Alex Zanardi's car was totalled after colliding with Alex Tagliani.

The 34-year-old Italian was leading with 12 laps left in CART's first race in Europe. As he exited pit lane after a stop, Zanardi seemed to accelerate too early, lost control and swerved sideways across a grassy area and into the path of Alex Tagliani's car.

Zanardi's car was shattered as Tagliani struck it broadside, the chassis cut in two with debris spraying across the track.

Zanardi was in stable but serious condition Sunday and in a "sedated coma," Dr. Gerd Schroeter said. He added that Zanardi most likely will be hospitalized for possibly two weeks and probably will stay in emergency care for about a week.

Schroeter, one of a team of physicians treating Zanardi, said a follow-up operation will be done Monday. The 34-year-old Italian also sustained a small fracture of the pelvis and a concussion, but there were no serious internal injuries.

Tagliani, the other driver in the crash, had only minor injuries and was treated and released Sunday from the same hospital.

"He's needed a lot of blood transfusions but the amounts aren't as great as yesterday," Schroeter said by telephone. "Patients that suffer such a big trauma are subject to heart and lung failure."

Zanardi file

Age: 34 Born: Oct. 23, 1966. Bologna, Italy. Family: Wife, Daniela; son, Niccolo. Grand prix wins: 15. Career poles: 10 Career highlights: Winner of back-to-back CART titles with the Chip Ganassi racing team in 1997 and 1998, spent the 1999 season with the Williams Formula One team before reverting to CART this year. Formula 3000 full debut in 1991, narrowly beaten to title by Christian Fittipaldi. Made Formula One debut later that season as Michael Schumacher's replacement at Jordan. After a brief spell with Minardi in 1992, his big chance came in 1993 when he replaced Mika Hakkinen at Lotus, securing his sole Formula One point at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Massive accident in practice at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in August 1993 sidelined him for nine months. Crash actually made him 3 cms longer as his neck stretched. Engineers calculated the Italian suffered 18 times the normally fatal level of G-force. Eventual return in May 1994 coincided with the gradual decline of Lotus. Burst on to the American scene in 1996, winning the Rookie of the Year Award before securing his two world titles. Recorded 15 wins and 10 poles from 51 CART races between 1996 and 1998. After returning to Formula One with Williams in 1999, had to sit out the 2000 season when replaced by Jenson Button. Failure at Williams regarded as one of the great mysteries of the year and the Italian returned to CART's Mo Nunn team for the 2001 season, but struggled to rediscover best form.

Zanardi's closest driver friends -- Jimmy Vasser, Dario Franchitti and teammate Tony Kanaan -- were at the hospital Sunday with Zanardi's wife, Daniela.

"He's going to go through the rollercoaster of accepting what's happened," Mo Nunn team spokesman Laz Denes said. "When he gets through this he'll come back to surprise a lot of people."

Morris Nunn, Zanardi's car owner, said Zanardi was "breathing on his own and has no other apparent internal injuries."

Patrick Carpentier managed to avoid Zanardi as the Italian's car skidded on the track. The next car to zoom by was Tagliani's, and it plowed straight into Zanardi.

"I almost hit Zanardi," Carpentier said. "He came up the track and I went sideways and almost hit the wall to avoid him. I didn't know that Tag had hit him. I knew somebody was going to hit him because he was going up the track and we were at full speed."

Carpentier finished third, behind Team Rahal drivers Kenny Brack and Max Papis as the race ended under a yellow flag before 87,600 fans at the EuroSpeedway.

"We are devastated by the extent of Alex's injuries," Nunn said. "But we are also so very thankful that he is on his way to surviving a tremendous impact. All of our thoughts and prayers are with Alex and his family."

The race originally was called the German 500 and was to be broadcast on ESPN at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. On Friday, the name was changed to the American Memorial to honor victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks, and ESPN said it would air the race Monday.

CART is one of the few major U.S.-based sports competing this weekend. The NFL and major league baseball called off all games, while NASCAR postponed its Winston Cup New Hampshire 300 and the Indy Racing League rescheduled its Chevy 500 in Texas.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Alex and his family," driver Adrian Fernandez said. "It was a terrible accident and all we can do at the moment is pray. It just breaks my heart. We are thankful that Alex Tagliani seems to be OK. In light of all that has happened, our day seems trivial."

Brack won his fourth race of the season and moved into the series lead.

"It's been a difficult week all week because of the events that have happened and what happened there at the end," he said.

Papis said: "I pray for all the people in the United States and I pray for my friend Alessandro that he is going to be OK. It's very hard to say anything more."

Zanardi, seeking his first victory this season, is one of CART's most high-profile and popular drivers.

He failed in his first try at Formula One in the early 1990s, and was a surprise pick to drive for Chip Ganassi in 1996 in CART. He was an immediate star in the Champ car series, winning Rookie of the Year honors, and then winning two straight championships in 1997-98 -- one of only three back-to-back CART champions ever.

He then left CART for another try at Formula One, but did not fare well with the Williams team and retired. After sitting out the 2000 season, he was lured back to CART by Nunn, his former engineer at Ganassi. Nunn started his own team last season.

Zanardi holds the modern CART record for points in a season, with 285 in 1998. He also holds the CART record for most consecutive poles (six), front row starts (11) and top-three finishes in a season (15).

Zanardi survived a serious F1 crash in Belgium in 1993, injuring his legs and back.